E 312 ^=^^^* 3l 



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Copy 1 



ON THE 

BIRTH OF WASHINGTON. ' 

DELIVERED 
IN ST. PHILIP'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON, (B.C.) 

ON THE 2 2D OP FEERUARYj 1 8 1 J?, 
BY APPOINTMENT 

OF THE 

WASHIKGTOK LIGHT IJ^FAJ^TRY, 

AND PUBLISHED AT THEIK REqUEST. 

. \ BY "WILLIAM CRAFTS, JUN". 

An Officer in the above Corpg« 



5 CHARLESTON: 
Printed by £. Morford, Willington & Co, 

1812. 






.C 88 



ON THE 



ElilTII OF YrASiilNGTON', 



IT is the fortune of fome men to be identified with 
their country. Tyrants by their crimes, warriors by 
their achievements, men of i;enius by their writings, 
and men of piety by their virtue. In religious coun- 
tries a faint, among the warlike a foklier, the most 
humane among the civilized, and the greatest 
favage of barbarians, is the fubject of eulogy and 
the model of imitation. But individuals are never 
fo confpicuous as when they are connected w^ith the 
origin or the overthrow of nations. The ingenuity 
of hidorical refearch has explored the foundation of 
every liructure, and its labours have aflonifhed, if 
they have not gratified, curioiity. The Poets of 
Greece exerted their fancy in fabulous relations of 
the heroifm of its founders. Robbers they convert- 
ed into Gods, and placed them in heaven, only be- 
caufe they were unfit for earth. The whitenefs of 
Parian marble was llained to commemorate their cx- 
cefles, and poflerity was called to revere thafe, who 
lived, " men know not how, and died, men care not 
when." The Roman antiquarian, when all the world 



was Rome, beheld her great progenitors in n couple 
of miserable fugitives — one of whom the flames of 
Troy, and the other the ferocity of a wolf, had fpared. 
The early annals of England record the fucccfsfiil 
nfurpation of a Norman adventurer, and many of the 
nations of Europe may fcramble for their anccflry at 
the doors of a Gothic cavern, among a crowd of 
barbarians. 

Our hiflory, my friends, is too young to admit the 
illufions, too bright to require the ornaments of fable. 
Here is no obfcurity for the ingenious to enlighten, 
no deformity for poetry to conceal. Our Republic 
was not the ofispring of fraud and violence. No 
plunder of the Sabine v/omen — No allbciation of 
lawlefs banditti ufliers in the fplendour of our day, 
the dawn of our empire. Our heroes are not a com- 
pound of courage and crime — faithlefs like the Car- 
thaginians, nor curft with the ambition of Ca?far, 
that destroyed his country. Our revolution was not 
a convulfive effort to propagate by the fword the doc- 
trines of peace — nor to confirm our own liberties by 
making slaves of others. It is a picture, on which 
the world may gaze with delight. A bold and gallant 
people, rising in defence of their natural rights, re- 
gaining them by the united efforts of valour and ge- 
nius; and enjoying them in the repofe of peace and 
tranquillity. Little more than a quarter of a century 
has paffed over our heads, but it has developed, 
what all antiquity was unable to mature. It has ex- 
hibited to mankind, a model of all that is good and 
great in human action — of all that is dazzling in the 



iheovy, or beneficial in the practice of govern irscnt. 
Whole patience fliall I abufe by relating the fervices 
of our revolutionary army ? What part of the habit- 
able globe is lb buried in moral and natural darknefs, 
that it hath not been enlightened by the radiance of 
American Liberties ? Who has not heard the name 
of Washington, and grown warm at the recital of his 
virtues ? In ^^ho^e bofom hath he not found a mau- 
foleum ? In whofe tongue has he wanted an eulogy ? 

In the caufe, which gave birth to thefe United 
States, there was an unparalleled combination of ta- 
lents and virtue. As the tributarv Ilreams of America 
unite to form the Mississippi, the great father of rivers, 
the tributary intellect and valour of the globe were 
concentrated in the formation of the American Re- 
public. The rocks of Caledonia were no longer bar- 
ren — Poland gave us Kosciusko — France her La Fay- 
ette — Germany De Kalb and Stuben — and the blood 
of MoNTGOMERV;, puTC as thc fuows that rcccived it, 
attefted the offering of thc Emerald Ille. At the 
head of these gallant allbciates " vclut inter stellar 
lunci miiwres" was our own Washington, worthy, 
thrice worthy of the admiration of his cotempora- 
ries, and the remembrance of poflerity to the end 
of time. 

In attempting a faint and feeble outline of the 
character of WASHINGTON;, drawn with "no master's 
hand/' I am sensible, that like the painter Apclles in 
his portrait of Venus, I must leave yoiu* imagination 
to supply more than half of the picture. Your ima- 



gination, untinged with the colouring of party either 
in or out of power. He lived, happily for himfelf, 
when party was in its cradle. It could not have look- 
ed him in the face. If it fpoke^ it was afliamed to be 
heard. If it walked abroad, it was not in the noon 
day. What American would have dared oppofe the 
father of his country ? To that country, the object 
of his beft hopes, the caufe of his unceafing toils, 
which owes fo much to his intrepid fpirit and fingu- 
lar virtue, his memory is dear and facred as his life 
was bright and ufeful. Well was it laid by the friend 
of Csefar — that he came to bury and not to praife 
him. His learning and accomplifliments — his cou- 
rage and eloquence — the conquefts which he made 
for himfelf in the fields of literature — and for his 
country in the field of battle, ferved only to render 
his defigns more confpicuous, and enable him more 
effectually to become a tyrant. Ciefar fought for 
himfelf, and not his country. Washington for his 
country and not himfelf. 

There is in the fplendour of military achievement 
A rapidity which defeats the powers of analyfis, and 
leads us captive in the chains of admiration. Much 
of this influence is exhibited in the chara61er of 
thofe, whom the world has confented to call great, 
without daring to call virtuous. The wild, romantic 
and terrible exploits of Alexander leave on the mind 
no other impreffion, than a fenfc of human weaknefs 
and crime. His v/as the defire not to poffefs but to 
conquer — to win without retaining, to overrun and 
not to fertilize. His dominions vaiiiflied as foon as 



7 

they were acquired, and all that he left to make 
atonement to his country for the bloody battles which 
foleranized his deaths was the fame of his deflru6tive 
career. Stripped of his military glory, what does he 
exhibit but the viclim of difgraceful paffions, which 
literature could not (often, nor ambition elevate. 

The Swedish conqueror, Charles the Twelfth, fir- 
ed with martial enthufiafm, followed the phantom of 
renown through perfonal privation, in danger, and in 
death. It courted him and he followed it. His ar- 
dour increafed with his succefTes, and he was in love 
with war. Blind to the miferies which follow in its 
train, he faw in it only the pomp and circumstance — ' 
the ovation and triumph. But the ifliie of his for- 
tunes was calamitous as their commencement was 
flattering, and his life affords as little room for imita- 
tion as it does for envy. 

Whether we contemplate the motives, thefituation^ 
or the condu6l of Washington, we fhall find equal 
caufe of exultation in the proud preeminence hefuf- 
tained over his competitors for fame in other parts of 
the world. How few of them can fupport a parallel ! 
How few — whole motives rifing above or beyond 
themfelves, proceeded from a noble or exalted fource ! 
How many — who were impelled by a fenfe of per- 
fonal injuries, by the lofs of fome real or imaginary 
right — by the ardour of revenge and the rage of con- 
quefl; ! How does it take from the praife of glorious 
aftions, the reflexion, that they originate in a love of 
power or a love of felf. And yet many even of the 



8 

htil men of riiUiqaity can pretend to no Iiigher nof 
more honorable impulie. Ever) the itatesiiicn i\nd 
lenders of Greece, models as llicv are of inter-ritv 
and Ipirit, were governed by the local intereds of a 
part, to which they were not unwiliing to fiibmii the 
f^eneral good of their country. Their objeft was to 
triumph over one another, and if at times foreign 
mvafion compelled them to unite, their union was 
rivalrv, and their concert, contention. Some men, 
it is true, O Ihameful veil of dclpotism ! have be- 
come tyrants for the public good. Such was Pififlra- 
tus of Athens, who abufcd the fympathies, that he 
might violate the rights of the people. Such was 
the Englifli Cromwell. A bold, audacious fanatic, 
"♦dio carried religion into politics, politics into reli- 
gion, and war into both. Odious enough for his 
cruelties, but more for the cloak with which he en- 
deavored to conceal them. A hvpocrite, as well as 
a tyrant — a patriot, who deceived the people, and 
a zealot, who thought he could deceive his God ! 

With fuch a man Washington may be contrafted, 
but not compared. His aim was not to be great, but 
iifeful. He had no difhonefl defires to gratify — he 
had loft no privileges, that he was to regain by war — 
nor was he of that number, who, having nothing to 
lofe, look forward to a period of commotion and dif- 
ficulty as to a feafon of harveft. Already in poflef- 
fion of an ample fortune, war might diffipate but 
could not enlarge it.. He left all that was dear to 
life, and to i'ave his country he became its leader. 
Its profperity was the guide of his career. This was 



llie image, which appeared to him not oiice — on the 
eve of a battle — but perpetually — in every fcene of 
his life was present in his bofom. 

How cheering and confolatory ! how noble and 
elevated are the emotions of the patriot foldier ! He 
enters the field to redrefs a national wrong, or avert 
a national calamity; his country calls him to battle ; 
beauty and innocence hail him as their guardian— 
and the miniflers of God invoke fuccefs upon his 
arms. If he conquer— he has repelled a hoflile in- 
vader, reftored his fellow-cilizens to liberty, revived 
afflicted commerce, cleanfed the national honor 
from a ftain, and renewed the tides of public prof- 
perity. If he die, his caufe ennobles his death, as 
the fandal tree flieds perfume on the axe that fells it. 
The widies of the good repofe with him — the tears of 
beauty fall upon his grave — his tomb affords the he- 
raldry of his children, who fliall exultingly boafl, 
that their father died for his Country. 

Such were the pure and patriotic motives of Wash- 
ington — of the younger Washington — and of thofe 
two great men, who adorn our ftate, conne61:ed by 
nature not more flrOngly than by glory, whom I 
would attempt to eulogize if I dared offend them.— 
Thefe alone can juftify the feverities of war. What 
fhall we fay, then, of thofe, v*'ho, to deprefs a rival, or 
to elevate themfelves — to extend the reign, not of 
happiness, but of mifery, wantonly deftroy the hu- 
man race, and invite the vengeance of heaven. In- 
dulging thofe fympathies, which by their fenfibility 

B 



lO 

to fuffering prove their capacity for enjoynicnr, whar 
ifliall the philanthropift fay of the fangiiinary and def- 
tru61ive war, that wafles the Peninfula; and turns the 
fword of Charles the 5th againft his unhappy defcend- 
aats ! How long. Father of Mercies, thai) that fated 
land be the fcene of rapine and flanghter ? Genius 
of Difcord ! who fhall cfcape thee ? Afilicled Hu- 
manity ! whither flialt thou retire ? 

There is no frnall interval between the talents re- 
quifite to acquire and to retain a lofty and confpicu- 
ous flation Men are not prone to difiurb the fecu- 
rity of an eftabliflicd government. Hereditary ho- 
nors impofe on mankind a refpeSi, of which it is dif- 
ficult to diveft their poiTeffors; and a prince, feated 
on the throne of his anceftors, may be accounted 
great merely by the prudent excrcife of power. To 
obtain an afcendancy over a nation by the difplay of 
uncommon bravery and fkill, and to adminifter a 
government with wifdom and glory, feldom belong 
to the fortunes of one man, and indicate no fmall 
degree of oppofition of character. Either is fufficient 
for honorable fame, but the union of both in Wash- 
ington confirms his fuperiority, if it were doubtful^ 
over thofe Kings and Emperors, who like Alfred and 
Peter, and Fredejick, relieve the gloom of hiHory by 
their virtues Washington was the founder of his 
own fortunes. He lifted himfelf above the mafs of 
his countrymen without the claims or the refources 
of royalty, without any titular difiinftion of name, 
or any infignia but thofe of merit for his perfon. No 
jjopular fuperllilion was conne6^ed with his fupport— 



11 

no religious phrenzy fwclled the number of his fol- 
lowers — no conteft for power invigorated his caufe. 
And yet fuch was his afcendancy that he rofe with* 
out any of thefe auxiliarieSj and attained a height 
fuperior to them ail. For when did one party con- 
quer, but it was cn^'ied by the other? Vvhen did one 
fe61 of reiigion prevail, but its triumph was recorded 
in blood? When did one fa6lion gain the fapremacy 
in a ftate, but its leader indulged himfelf or his friends 
with the facrifice of his opponents, and was rewarded 
by their fears and deteftation ? 

But the pow'er of Washington was beftowed by al! — . 
it was an univerfal offering at the (hrine of virtue. 
His honors were worn without envy and without re- 
proach. The confidence of all was repofed in him, 
and he repaid it by a facred devotion of himfelf to 
the good of all. Supported by the common confent 
of the brave and patriotic, he was enabled, in the 
progrefs and management of the war, to develop 
his fuperior talents, and in another inltance to realize 
his claims to the palm of greatnefs. Jn the Macedon- 
ian Phalanx, and the Roman Legion, the conquerors 
of former times found the beft materials of war, and 
the certain infiruments of victory. The whole organ- 
ization of Rome was fubfervient to the defire of con- 
queft and the love of arms. Her enemies had neither 
fkill nor experience, nor any of thofe advantages, 
which di cipline confers upon bravery. She triumph- 
ed over the ignorance of fome, the effeminacy of 
others, the fears of all. There w^as fomething ap- 
palling even in the name of Rome, that foreran her 



12 

arms and rendered her viftorious. So much for the 
conquefts of Csefar and the Scipios. So much for 
fhofe victories, which^ achieved by different generals 
through a long fucceffion of years, accumulated the 
grandeur and completed the enormous fabric of the 
Roman Empire. 

Washington, on the contrary, was at the head of 
an army without difcipline. He had to draw on his 
own capacious mind for the refourees of war — for the 
ability to fight without money, and almoft without 
men. He had to fupport, not only himfelf, but his 
caufe — to overcome the timidity of the wavering, the 
apathy of the indifferent, and the raflinels of the un- 
thinking. Some there were, whofe energies he could 
not aroufe, and others, whofe fears he could not 
awaken. He had to fubllitute entreaty for command, 
and argument for authority. Such were the difficul- 
ties he encountered before he met the enemy, and in 
the field they were increafed by the oppofition of ve- 
teran and difciplined troops, led by experienced 
generals againft an army, whofe only talent for war 
was its undaunted bravery, and whofe chief reliance, 
the juflice of its caufe. And yet by a wife and pru- 
dent difpofition of his forces, by a fagacity which 
difcerned, with a happy precifion, the points of at- 
tack and the time of battle ; by a caution equal to 
that of Fabius, and more extenfively fuccefsful, Wash- 
ington vanquifhed all oppofition, and led his coun- 
try vi6lorious to the Temple of Liberty. 

At the conclufion of the war, our patriot army, 
fuffering under the fenfe of unrequited fervices. 



13 

poor, diTheartened, and alinoft deiperalc, was goad- 
ed by the lafh and fting of rhetoric into a fiate, 
which had well ni_i;h blaftcd its own honours and de- 
itroved the public fecurity, Wc have all feen and 
admired the eloqiicnt and inrpaffioned addrefs, which 
told it to demand from the fears what it defpaired 
of gaining from the juftice of the country, and to 
carve the reward oT iis labours with the fvvord. The 
Chief, who had directed the energies of patriot sol- 
diers, was to ibin his triumphs by becoming the 
Leader of a Praetorian band. The utmost efforts of 
Washington were required to fupprefs these irritated 
feelings, and to calm this oflended fea. He spoke 
to them with the sympathies of a foldier, and the 
feverily of a patriot. He reminded ihem of the 
glory they had acquired, and deprecated the black 
and infidious deilgns, that would tarnish their laurels. 
He happily succeeded, and '' our array, vis^lorious 
over its enemies, was victorious over iifelf." 

But we have been recently told, that this deep 
and defiru6live fcheme originated in the bofom of 
Washington himfelf. That, cruelly fporting with 
public fenfibility, he excited the ftorm, only that 
his power might be difplayed in appeafing it, and 
that the author of thefe inflammatory publications, 
whom he fcrupled not to call an enemy to his coun- 
try, had received his letters of forgivenefs, ifnot of ap- 
probation. That Washington had his failings in com- 
mon with us all, though I have not been able to dif- 
cover them, I am not willing to deny. Spots there 
are ip the Sun, but who is not warmed by his beams^ 



14 

and dazzled by his noon-tide fplendcn- ? But if this 
be true, the Sun h"iS fustained a terrible eciipfe. — 
Can it be believed that the ^vhole conduct of Vv^ash- 
INGTON was infincere ? Can we for a n^ioment fup- 
pofe, that at the very climax of his fame, he became 
insenfible to the value of reputation ? That, having 
proudly fecured the ob;e61 of a laborious life, he 
would, like the wife of Ulyffcs, deliberately undo his 
own work? Was he so delighted with war, that he 
would wage it against his country ? Was he avarici- 
ous, and was his avarice to be fated with the blood of 
his fellow-citizens ? Did he aim at a crown, and 
was the defpotifm of an American to fucceed that of 
a foreign tyrant? Let his life, full of heroifm and 
unfullied virtue — his difint ere fled fpirit, which found 
its reward in the contemplation of that life — his per- 
petual devotion to the caufe of Liberty — his parental 
regard for the nation, which he fo effentially ferved, 
vindicate his fame from this unfounded flander. It 
has come cloaked with obfcurity from the caverns of 
darknefs, when that eye was dim, that would have 
withered it forever, with the ferocity of the hya:na, 
that preys upon the dead. Let li not diflurb the 
afhes of our Father. 

What a moving and fublime fpectacle was exhi- 
bited to the world, in the parting of the gallant re- 
volutionary afTociates and their illuftrious leader. — 
How full of bri"[ht and brilliant recollection ! Me- 
morable by the tears of patriotifm^-'' filence that 
fpoke and eloquence of eyes " How grand and au- 
guft the fcene, when before an afTemblage of as many 



i5 

l^ife and good men as ever graced a national coun- 
cil, the fword, which had won our liberties, was fur- 
rendered for their fecurity. When the foldier, flufh- 
ed with fuccefs and elate with viftory, made an 
offering of his ambi-.ion at the (hrine of his country^ 
bowed to the majefty of the laws, and retained of 
his arms, only the laurels that encircled them. How 
grateful to the fages of Congrefs the reflection, that 
their difcernment had so judicioufly felected a leader 
for their armies ! To the country, how delightful 
the thought, that the greatefl valour had combined 
with the greatelt wifdom in efTefting its em-ancipa- 
tion ! To the world, that had beheld the fervility 
of the Roman Senate — that had feen Cromwell dif- 
perfe the Englifii Parliament at the point of the 
fword, and has fince witneifed the proceedings of the 
French National Afiembly — how new ! how admira- 
ble ! how fplendid the example of the Weilerit 
Republic ! 

Washington conducted, with equal credit to him-- 
felf, the affairs of war and government. It is not my 
intention to dwell upon the wifdom and impartiality^, 
the firmnefs and decifion,, which were confpicuous 
throughout his adminiRration. His bell eulogy is 
the profperity v/hich attended his government — our 
fudden and unparalleled progrefs in the arts of civili- 
zation and wealth — the wide extent of our commer- 
cial intercourfe — the internal tranquillity which he 
reftored, and the refpe61 he created for us among 
foreign nations. Nor will I attempt to panegyrize 
his noble retirement from power;, and his contempt 



of thoi'e jjurfuits^ which have dazzled aad deladcd lo 
many of our fpecit\s. Ths vanity of Cicero iinpellcd 
him to aifert, that his fame was equal to (hat of tiie 
founder of Rome, becaufe he had preierved it. — 
What eulogy would that great orator, fruitful as he 
was m epithet and compliment, have foiuul adequate 
to commemorate the multifarious and complex fer- 
vices of Washington, the founder of a republic by 
his fuccefs in arms, and its preferver by his Ikill in 
politics. What would he have faid of that ambition, 
which was fatislied with doing good, and not willing 
to hear of it ? What of that power, whicii w^as illuf- 
trated, not by its abufe, but by a patriotic fubmiffion 
to the ocncral vvill ? V/hat of that virtue, which wt.s 
equally manifelted in public and private life, in 
fplendour and obfcurity. What of that military fci- 
cnce, which ertabled him fuccefsfully to contend 
without arms or difcipliiie again ft a well appointed 
army. What of that political ability, which appeared 
to tranfcend even his military talents, and entitled 
liim in a flill greater degree to the applaufe of man- 
kind What of that wise and temperate coolnefs, 
which profperity could not warm into extravagance, 
nor adverfity chill into fear.— -The Roman had never 
foch a model for his imitation, nor fuch a theme 
for his eloquence. His imagination was never glad- 
dened by lo bright a vifion. 

A vifion, indeed, it has become, even to our eyes. 
The Father of his Country has defcended into the 
tomb. But there is a moral twilight, which fliall for- 
ever furvive the deiccnt of ihe patriotic and brave 



17 

The Wefiern fky (hall not foon loofe the reflection of 
the luftre, that enlightened it. The memory of Wash- 
ington (liall flill linger in our bofoms. His precepts 
fhall condu61 his fame to pofterity^ and pofterity 
to renown. They fliall infpire the ftatefman, the 
citizen, and the soldier, warm the fong of poetry 
and adorn the efforts of untutored eloquence. 

*' Long his loss shall Freedom weep. 
Ne'er again his likeness see ; 
Long her strains in sorrow steep, 
Strains of immortality." 

Shortly before this great and good man was gather- 
ed to his fathers, there arofe, in an oppofite quarter 
of the globe a new ftar of great and growing mag- 
nitude. As foon as it had passed the horizon, it was 
the fubje6l of univerfal gaze. All the old planets 
had been whirled out of their fpheres^ and difappear- 
ed, and e\ery new one was a theme of wonder. It 
afcended with a quick and irregular motion, many a 
time was it fuffufed with blood — its track was through 
many a dark and fable cloud — until gradually bright- 
er and enlarged it arrived at the zenith, and became 
the Sun of France. The lefler flars were eclipfed by 
its grandeur, or melted away in the fervency of its 
beams, and the vapours of incenfe and adulation 
arofe from the bofom of a great and gallant people. 
But it was not deftined to be flill. Other climes 
were to be fcorched by its heat, and terrified by its 
luftre. Gathering behind it a train of wretched ad- 
mirers, it dafhed with the velocity of a Comet through 
the furrounding fyflems, which it fuccelTively diior- 
c 



i8 

dered and deranged. All the moral and phylical at- 
tractions of fociety were inftantly diilolved. The 
cottage^ the palace, and the temple, it involved in 
one common blaze. The llirub and the oak withered 
together. All that was fair^ and fragrant, and love- 
ly — all that was folid, and ancient, and venerable ; — 
the monarch on his throne, and the maiden in her 
cloifter were alike infecure. The ices of the Da- 
nube gave way before it — it fcorched the plains of 
SaragolTa, and blafied the herbage of Italy. It re- 
turned to France ; but the bright and independent 
fpheres of the Continent had been loofened from 
their orbits, and were become its fatellites. They are 
governed by a terrible atiraftion. Their diilance is 
hourly diminifliing, and they will foon be abforbed in 
a common centre. An hour, I had almoflfaid a day, 
of foftnefs has tranquillifed the fplendours and re- 
lieved the feverity of its fires. The Eagle has deign- 
ed to flumber on the pinnacle of power. The foft 
fafcinations of Love have, for a moment, (laid the 
conqueror Napoleon. 

It may not be uninterefdng to felecl the few 
points of refemblance, which affimilate the other- 
wife oppofite characters of Washington and Buona- 
parte. Both of them lived at a period of national 
convulfion and difturbance. Both were atlors in a 
great and mighty revolution. Both became confpi- 
cuous by their own exertions, and ere6ted for theni- 
felves the pyramid of renown. Neither derived any 
influence from adventitious circumflances; nor was 
there any thing in the hiflory of either, which in any 



19 

■wiie foretold his future fnccefs, or augured his trium- 
phant deftiny. In both, all calculations of human 
forefight proved, a's they often do, altogether nre- 
fumptuous and ineffeclual. Y\'ho could have fore- 
feen, in the obi'cure family of an illiterate Ccrficanj 
the future terroiir of the World ? Who, lookinsr 
forward, even upon the bright and manly virtues and 
daring fpirit of WASiiiNGTONr, could have anticipated 
the Founder of a new Republic ? Who would have 
attributed to the fermenting fpirits of France, a tame 
acquielcence in the fiibverfion of all their favourite 
projects, in the dominion of an Ufurper ? Who 
would have expefted from an infant Colony, an un- 
conquerable refifiance to arbitrarv power, the un- 
bendino- Durfuit of rifjhts, which the reft of mankind 
appeared to have forgotten, and the edablifnment of 
a free government ? — And, vet all thefe things have 
happened within the memory of many, who hear 
me, in little more than twice the time, that was re- 
quired bv all Greece to conquer a fingle city. 

If Buonaparte and Washington ilarted from the 
fame goal, their courfe was perpetually diverging. 
The leading principle of the one v,as Virtue — of the 
other, Ambition. The object of Washington v-/as to 
make his country free and happy, even at the rifk of 
his lit'e and fortunes. The aim of BuoNAPAnTE — to 
make France vi6lorious over the W^orld, and himfelf 
viflorious over France. The caufe of the American 
army was identified with that of their Leader — the 
fame fympathies, the fame fuiTerings, the fame fuc- 
cefs. The forces of France were the inftruments of 



20 

her Ruler, and he flianiefully dcferted them on the 
Coaft of Africa! The triumph of one was the tri- 
umph of patriot! fm, and gave fcciirity to innocence. 
The throne of the other was erefted over proftrate 
innocence and patriotifm, like the pi^lured night- 
mare on the bofom of lovclinefo — Ijuokaparti: might 
have found a model in Alexander, and a preceptor in 
Machiaveh but Washington was deftined for the in- 
ftruclion and imitation of others. The Moral Archi- 
teclure of the World could have afforded him only a 
colleclion of mutilated and imperfe^l; flatues; many 
of them beautiful, indeed, in fome of their features, 
but without fymmetry or proportion. He might 
have derived from each of them fome thing line, 
noble, and cxprefTive, but the combination would 
have been (Irange and unnatural. He rejected them 
^llj and was himfelf. 

There never will be a period of national difficulty, 
that will not direct the public mind and feeling to 
the contemplation of the public lofs in the death of 
Washington. Such a period is the prefent. Through 
the perils, which furround the Republic, " through 
the wild waves as they roar," his prophetic eye would 
have difcerned a fafe and profperous courfe. Per- 
haps, had it pleafed High Heaven to fpare him, the 
voice of gladnefs might flill have been heard among 
lis. Perhaps foreign nations would have refpe61ed 
our rights, and ceafed to molest them. Our com- 
merce and induftry, thofe befl: mines of wealth, 
might have continued to lay their treafures at the 
feet of an enterprizing people. Perhaps there would 



2t 

have been union in our councils, and what is more — - 
union among ourfelves. Cur treafury might not 
have been exhaufted in vain. Perhaps, it would not 
have been now a queftion, to didurb the boat-fong 
of the lakes v/ith the rude accents of war — or to 
kindle a (ire anions: his fnovvs for the fhivering- jCana- 
dian. The name of Washington would have proved 
terrible to the enemies, as it is dear to the friends of 
the counlry. 

But, on the other hand, the preiTure of time might 
have dedroyed the elafticity, and impaired the vigour 
of his mind. Age might have taken away all fenfi- 
bility but that of fuffering, and have left him afplen- 
did wreck of greatnefs. The public reverence might 
have yielded to the compaflion of fome, the con- 
tempt of others, the indifference of all. He might 
have furvived his reafon, and a deep and dreadful 
darknefs have fucceeded a day without a fpot. Or, 
there might have been left him juft enough of light 
to mifiead without informing him, and the garrulity 
of age might have afflicled the memory of the dead, 
and affailed the fair fame of his e'arly pffociates. He 
might have furnilhed a fatt'^co'amentary for the Poet, 

** From Marlbrougn's eyes the streams of dotage flow, 
And Swift expires a driveller and a show.'* 

The deftinies of Washington were with his God, 
but his memory is with his country. His life, on 
earth, is at an end, but his fame fiiall be perpetual. — 
Time, the ruthlefs and univerfal deflroyer — Time, 
who can neither be wooed nor frightened, deaf to 



2^ 

the fupplications of beauty, and blind to the lufire 
of talents, fhall drop his fcythe and love to linger on 
fo bright a part of his career — The lapfe of years 
fliall confirm its claims to the reverence and applaufe 
of the world — Antiquity fhall make it venerable. 

FELLOW-SOLDIERS OF 

THE WASHINGTON LIGHT-INFANTRY! 

The name, which we bear, and the pride, which we 
feel in a review of the character of Washington — 
our gratitude, and veneration — our hopes and fears 
may well excufe the folemn memorial of this day, 
although they serve to exhibit in a ftronger light, the 
inadequacy of him who addrefles you. It will be 
well for this country, if, at flated intervals, her flatef- 
men fhall recall the likenefs of Washington and com- 
pare it with their own. It will be well, if the exam- 
ple of this Father of his Country fliall warm her 
Rulers into imitation. It will be v/el], if our youth, 
fired with the love of honorable fame, fnall repair 
for inflru6tion to the Tomb of Washington. To the 
Tomb, did I fa} -^— Alas ! >here is it ?;^He fieeps be- 
neath the fhade of the evcrl/ifling Laiji.rel, that stretch'- 
es its mighty anns athwart the lapfe of ages. 

We have been told, my friends, that no Parian 
marble is fuflficiently white — no fculpture fo exqui- 
fite, and no laniruafre fo refined as to tranfmit to 
future times an appropriate record of the fervices of 
Washington, and to mark the fpot, where the Saviour 
of his country lies. We are toldj that the nation 



23 

ought not to refcue from obfcurity and negle^l the 
relics of hhv., Avho gave it a name among the nations 
of the earth, and refcued it from BONDAGE. Be it 
fo ! While, however, we reje61 the memorial^ let us 
remember the man. AVhile we diidain the ufual mani- 
feilations of feeling, let us be fure, at leaft, that we 
do feel. Let. the young displai/ HIS valour and 
fortitude — let HIS wisdom inspire the aged — let infan- 
cif lisp HIS stor?j, and leauty sing HIS praise — let HIS 
principles and patriotism pervade the nation, and evert/ 
city, and every village, and ex>cry IJ^DIVIDUAL in 
OUR COUNTRY shall he A MOJVUMEJ\T OF 

WASHING-TON. 



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